Saturday, January 16, 2016

Dry spell dooms Nuggets in loss at No. 21 Talladega

TALLADEGA, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana suffered a long dry spell Saturday and lost 54-47 to Talladega in a matchup of ranked NAIA women's basketball teams from the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.

The Gold Nuggets (13-6, 2-1 GCAC), ranked 13th, led 7-2 in the fifth minute, then was outscored 34-15 during the next 23 minutes. The Lady Tornadoes (13-3, 2-0), ranked 21st, took the lead for good shortly before halftime and led by 18 in the second half.

Xavier shot 25 percent from the floor to match a season low, failed to make a 3-pointer and committed 27 turnovers. XU reserve guard Alesha Smith scored a season-high 12 points and had three steals to match her career high. Trana Hopkins scored nine points, and Hopkins, Kelsee Singleton and Mikayla Bates grabbed five rebounds apiece.

Xavier led 9-6 through the first quarter, but Talladega led 20-14 at halftime and 41-27 through three quarters. Henry's two free throws with 6:12 remaining made it 48-30.

Making her XU debut was Ariel Sneed, a 6-foot junior forward from Harvey, Ill. Sneed, who attended Southern Mississippi during the fall and was a standout at Kirkwood (Mo.) Community College last season, had two points and three rebounds in 15 minutes.

The teams will meet again Jan. 25 — one week from Monday — at 5:30 p.m. at XU's Convocation Center. Next for the Gold Nuggets will be their fourth game in eight days — 5:30 p.m. Monday against GCAC opponent Tougaloo at XU's Convocation Center.